


Examination of Quotidian Routines

by adorations



Series: Explorations in Post-Canon Adventures [2]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Dancing, Domestic, Established Relationship, Los Angeles, M/M, Minor mention of animal death, Panic Attack, Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:20:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25837156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorations/pseuds/adorations
Summary: A look into an average day of Troy’s life in LA.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: Explorations in Post-Canon Adventures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874791
Comments: 12
Kudos: 163





	Examination of Quotidian Routines

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! be warned there is a brief non graphic discussion of an animals death if that’s something that would upset you. 
> 
> this is meant to take place after Advanced Companion Reconciliation but can be read alone. 
> 
> if you liked it please leave comments and kudos!

When Troy opened his eyes in the morning, the first thing he saw was Abed.

He was the first thing Troy saw every morning, which Troy really, really liked. A lot. Abed was usually still sleeping when Troy woke up and this morning was no exception. This time, he had spread out in his sleep so that one leg was dangling off of the bed and his hand was sandwiched between Troy's pillow and the mattress. 

Troy resisted the urge to kiss him. He would let him sleep in instead, otherwise he'd have a very confused and groggy Abed on his hands. He did, however, lightly trail a finger across Abed’s bare skin, down his torso. Troy smiled at the small nose twitch Abed made at the action. 

He was able to successfully get out of bed, take a shower, and creep down to the kitchen (avoiding the loud, creaky stair third down from the top) to pour himself a bowl of cereal without waking him. 

Troy brought the cereal out onto their patio and it wasn't long before he heard the door slide open behind him. 

"Good morning," Abed said as he bent down to kiss him on the cheek. 

"Morning," Troy said back, mouth full of cereal. 

Abed sat down beside him. "Cocoa Puffs?"

"You know it," said Troy. "Lucky Charms?" he asked, gesturing towards Abed’s own bowl. 

"Of course."

Abed rubbed at his eyes and groaned. Troy took note of this. "Tired?"

"Exhausted," Abed said. "But we're making progress. I shouldn't complain."

Troy shrugged. "You can complain. I complain all the time."

The corners of Abed's lips twitched. "That's true."

"You can complain about work even if you love it," Troy continued. "Even if it's your favorite thing, and everyone tells you not to, and that you're really good at it so you shouldn't feel that way. You don't have to love every second of it."

Abed furrowed his eyebrows, only slightly. "Hm."

"I mean," Troy said, "I know it's not the same thing, but I never complained about football until it was over. I don't want you to keep it all inside if you're feeling like that."

"I don't," Abed said. "I don't think so. You disliked more than just a few seconds of football, right? That was always my understanding."

Troy shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "Um, yeah. There was a lot of stuff I didn't like."

"I like almost every second of my job," Abed said and Troy nodded, relieved.

"Good."

Abed nodded back at him. "It's going to be a really cool finale." 

"Cool," Troy smiled. 

"Cool, cool, cool."

They did their handshake. 

"I'm excited to see it," Troy said. "It's always different, you know? Seeing it on the screen instead of reading it." 

"I do know," said Abed, nodding enthusiastically, his eyes wide. "I think Annie's really going to like it, as well. It's right up her alley."

"Oh, for sure," Troy said. "Be ready, because she is definitely going to call us the second it airs." 

"I'm ready," Abed said. He set down his spoon. "I miss her." 

Troy nodded understandingly. "I miss her, too." 

"We should go see her in D.C.," said Abed. "Or we could fly her out here, but I'd rather go back there. We didn't do enough All the President's Men scenes last time."

"Agreed," Troy said, even though he had never been able to make it through the whole movie. He trusted Abed's judgement. "Okay. Maybe once you're done with this season?" 

Abed nodded. "Of course." 

Troy smiled again. "Cool."

After breakfast, they went back inside to put their dishes away and brush their teeth. There bathroom was a little crowded, but they still brushed their teeth together, just like they did back at their Colorado apartment. 

Their toothbrush holder was shaped like the X-7 Dimensionizer. It gave Troy a little spark of joy whenever he looked at it.

Abed left to go on his run and Troy, electing not to torture himself by trying to keep up, stayed behind to change into his dance clothes. He pulled on a pair of tearaway pants (which was not common in the dance world, he discovered, but he still liked to wear them anyways) over his leotard and then reached for a sweatshirt. He was halfway through pulling it onto his body when he realized it was slightly too small – he had grabbed one of Abed's sweatshirts by accident. 

He held the sweatshirt in his hands. If he thought he could get away with it, he would wear it, and then he'd probably give one of his own sweatshirts to Abed as well and they could do a sweater swap like Andy and April on Parks and Rec. But he's fairly certain he wouldn't fit into most of Abed's clothes. 

He thought that he'd still like to designate a few specific sweatshirts of his to go to Abed in the future. Abed took them on his own sometimes and he claimed it was tropey and a little cliche, but he wore them anyways, with the fabric hanging loosely over his body. Troy liked how he looked when he did. He wanted to see him like that more often. 

By the time Abed got back from his run, Troy was heading out the door. 

"Hey," he said. "I'm leaving now. Will I see you before you go?" 

Abed considered it. "Probably not. I want to make sure I get there early today." 

"Alright." Troy kissed him goodbye. "I'll see you later."

Abed pulled him into their handshake and then one more kiss goodbye. "Okay," he said. "See you soon."

The drive to the dance studio wasn't exactly a long one, but the routine of doing it so often started to bore Troy sometimes. Abed suggested music, which helped for the most part, so Troy liked to turn on the radio extra loud to keep his mind from wandering too far. 

Imani was already in the lobby when he arrived. 

"Hey," she said, already loosely stretching. "Long time no see."

Troy rolled his eyes kindly. They had seen each other only yesterday. "Ha ha, very funny."

"What can I say," Imani said, "I live to entertain."

He rifled through his bag and pulled out his water bottle. He took a long sip from it in preparation of the session ahead of them. 

Imani reached into her own bag and tossed him a pair of leather dance shoes he needed for a different class. "Here. You left these at my place."

" _God,_ " he said, hitting a hand against his forehead and quickly taking them from her. "I am so dumb." 

"Woah, okay," Imani said. "It happens."

"Yeah it happens, it happens to me, _all the time,_." He rubbed his temples. "Why do I do this?"

Imani made a face. "It's fine. You just forgot."

"But I forget all the time," Troy said. He shook the shoes out at her before stuffing them into his bag. "I forgot these! Completely! I had no idea you had them." 

"I think you're being really hard on yourself," Imani said. "You remember a lot of things. I've never seen you forget any of your anniversaries with Abed. And you guys celebrate a _lot_ of anniversaries." 

Troy bit his lip. "Yeah, I guess." 

"C'mon," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and entering the studio.

Warm ups feel really, really good. It felt like he could actually sense the tension and stress leaving his body. Even more than that, learning a combo, perfecting it, performing it... that felt even better. 

It's nice, he thought, to feel such control over his body. To maneuver it without crashing it, without destroying it, to have such delicate movements occur as he chose them to... it was freeing, in a way.

He's thoroughly exhausted by the time they were done, but he'd gotten to perfect a few of his turns, so it was all worth it.

"I've got to get my mind back into ballet mode," Imani said as they left the studio. "It'll be Nutcracker season before you know it."

"Fun!" Troy said. 

"It is," Imani said happily. "It doesn't feel like Christmas until I'm working on those dances."

"Do you think I could ever do that?" Troy asked. 

"Be in the Nutcracker?"

Troy nodded. 

"Oh, yeah," Imani said. "Of course."

"Really?"

Imani turned to him as they stepped out into the parking lot. "Troy, I don't know if you realize how quickly you're picking up different dance styles. It's really, really quick." She shrugged. "If you keep learning ballet the way you've been learning it, I'm sure there'll be shows for you. Sooner than you think."

Troy nodded happily to himself. "Cool."

There's a car pulled into a parking spot nearby, and a young woman and a baby got out of it and waved to them. 

"Look at that!" Imani said, moving toward them. "Hello." She kissed the young woman and then kissed the top of the child's child. "And hello."

The young woman readjusted her grip on the baby and smiled at him. "Hi, Troy."

"Hey, Nora," Troy said. "Long time, no see."

Imani pointed at him. "Watch it. My joke." Still pointing at Troy, she redirected her focus back to the baby. "Eve, do you remember Troy? Huh?"

Eve, being a baby, did not answer, but she did hold her hands out to make grabbing motions with her hands. At her parents' responding looks, Troy reached out for her.

"Hey, baby," Troy said, taking her from Nora's arms. "I still don't know how to talk to you."

"God," Imani said, "I always forget. You're young." 

"Just because I'm awesome, doesn't mean I'm not an adult." Eve made a screeching, laughing sound and Troy decided to take that as agreement. He raised an eyebrow at Imani. "Also, I'm really not that much younger, but whatever you say, old lady." 

Imani gasped in mock indignation, Nora barked out a laugh, and Eve made another squeaking sound. 

"Oh, what was that?" Troy said, pretending to listen to her. "You think I'm awesome and you want to live with me instead? Okay!" 

"Do _not_ take my baby," Imani said. 

"Gug!" Eve yelled, her tiny hand grasping his earlobe. 

"She means dog," Nora explained. "We had a very long and mostly one-sided conversation about dogs and puppies on the way here." 

"Oh, I love dogs," Troy said to Eve.

"Gug!" she said again. 

"Awesome," Troy said, laughing. He bounced her in his arms lightly. "Hey, baby," he said again. "You are going to be a very smart lady one day." 

Eve responded by babbling and sticking her fingers directly into Troy's mouth. 

"Alright." Imani reached out for her and removed her from Troy's arms. He felt a brief pang of sadness. Troy tried not to think about what that meant. "Back to Mommy."

"She gets smarter every time I see her," Troy said. 

"Well, one of us has to," Imani said, gesturing to herself and her family. They laughed. 

"Hey, do you guys wanna get some lunch?" Troy offered. "I'm buying."

Imani and Nora shared a look. "Oh, Troy, that sounds lovely, but..."

"My Dad's actually coming to visit," Imani finished. "So I'm just running home to shower and then we have to get him from the airport. I don't think we have much time..." 

"Oh." Troy blinked. "That's totally fine. I didn't know you had family coming in." 

"He usually visits around this time of year," Nora jumped in to explain. "And he gets really excited about being in 'the big city.' Every time."

"And then," Imani said, "he forgets his own daughter and talks Nora's ear off about the Industrial Era the whole time."

"I really don't mind," Nora said, more to Imani than Troy. "It's sweet." 

"Sounds neat," Troy said. His mouth felt very dry. "It's nice you get along so well." 

"That's for sure." Eve made another screeching sound and Imani tickled her stomach. "Okay! Car time." She looked to Troy again. "Sometime next week, though. I'd love to get lunch."

"Sounds good," Troy said. He waved to them as they got into the car and pulled away. 

Once they were gone, Troy began the slow walk down the street to where he was pretty sure there was a food truck with tacos. As he walked he pulled out his phone and began tapping at it. 

First, he took a selfie at a terrible angle, drew a funny mustache on it, and sent to Abed for no real reason other than he thought it would make him laugh. Then he sent a gif of a falling deer to the study group groupchat, again, not for any real reason. Shirley responded with an LOL and Britta sent a corresponding gif of a gopher. 

Before he had time to think about why, Troy was calling his mother instead of putting his phone back in his pocket. 

"Hey, baby," his mother said. 

"Hi, Mom." 

She waited a moment, probably wondering if he was going to say anything else. He didn't. "What's going on?"

"Not much. I just left the studio, just grabbing some lunch," Troy said. "Figured I'd give you a call."

"Well, it's good to hear from you," she said. 

"What's going on with you, Mom? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, hon, everything's fine," Cynthia said hesitantly. "You remember that old tomcat living in the barn last time you were here?"

"Yeah!" Troy said excitedly. 

"Not so much a tomcat as it turns out," she said. "A mother now, actually. I've got kittens in the barn."

"That's adorable!" Troy said, mostly excited but also a small, confusing part of him feeling like he wanted to cry. 

"They've haven't let me get too close yet," Cynthia continued, "but I've been leaving some food out for them. I'm hoping they'll start to learn who I am soon. Do you and Abed want any kittens?"

"Um," Troy said, "That's an... interesting question."

"Oh?" Cynthia said. "Is that so?"

"Well, in terms of cats, I don't really mind them," Troy said. "Abed doesn't either, but he says they view him as a natural competitor."

"I see."

"Also," Troy continued, "our hamster died. A couple weeks ago, actually."

"Oh," Cynthia said. "I'm sorry, baby. That's no fun."

"It's alright," Troy said through the accumulating lump in his throat. He tried not to think about their very tiny hamster funeral. "She was pretty old. And Abed’s a little bit more... comfortable with death, so we’ve been getting by.” Still, Troy thought about the sad, sad look on Abed’s face when she died. “It’s still sad, though. It's been kinda weird without any pets in the house. I don't know. Maybe that's dumb."

"I don't think so," Cynthia said. "Maybe you need a new animal, then. More life in your house. Brighten things up."

"Maybe. Something like that."

"Well, I'll keep you updated on the kittens," said Cynthia. "If that's something you're interested in."

"I gotta be honest, Mom, I don't know if a _cat_ is for us," Troy said. "But keep me updated anyway. I guess you never know."

"Do you remember how you used to play with our old cat? You were just a little boy."

"I remember him biting me. Although that was probably my fault, I would grab his tail a lot."

"Yes, you would."

"Troy the cat."

"That's right."

"Hey... Why did you call them that?" Troy asked. "I didn't realize it until way later but all our pets were called Troy."

"You didn't realize that?"

"I mean, I knew that, of course," Troy said. "It's just that they were all... older than me."

"Well, yes," she said. "I loved your name. Ever since I was a little girl." 

"So you... used it on the animals first? Why?"

She paused. "What's on your mind, honey? Why are you asking about this?"

Troy shrugged. "I was just wondering."

"It's not really a fun story, honey."

"I'm sorry," Troy said. "I was just wondering about it. Been thinking about it lately. Just a little. It doesn't matter."

"No, no, it's fine," Cynthia sighed. "Well... we were waiting a long time for you. Or it felt like a long time, anyways. We were younger than you are now." She laughed dryly. "And it was hard. It was hard on your father, too..."

Troy nodded even though she couldn't see him. 

"And you know what I do when there's nothing else to be done."

"Animals."

"Animals," she confirmed. "I figured I'd at least use the name."

Troy's pace slowed. "Huh."

"And then along came you," Cynthia said, much brighter than before. "And it was your name. It always had been. I wasn't going to keep it from you." She paused. "Does that answer your question?"

"I guess it does," Troy said. "I'm sorry I never asked. I just... I don't know. I never realized that." He thought about it. "That must've been hard for you."

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's not your job to worry about these things, it's mine. I'm just glad you ended up a boy!" Cynthia laughed. "I didn't have any names for a little girl." 

They laughed together that time, lightly and sweetly.

"How's Abed?" she asked him. "He's doing okay?"

"Doing great," Troy said. "Right now's like, the busiest part of his filming schedule, so he's working a lot. But it's good, he's doing really good."

"That's good." Troy could almost hear the smile in her voice. "He's such a sweet boy." 

"Yeah, he is," Troy said, fondly remembering the morning.

Cynthia made a heavy breathing sound into the phone. "I don't know if you're planning on inviting your father to the wedding—"

"We're keeping it small," Troy said quickly. "And he doesn't want to come, anyways."

Cynthia clicked her tongue. "I see." 

"It's really fine," Troy said, still talking just as fast. "Why? What were you going to say?"

"Oh, nothing," she said carefully. "I was just wondering."

It's moments like these where Troy was reminded of the dynamic he maintained with his mother growing up. He groaned. "Mom." 

"I didn't say anything! I was just wondering!" she insisted. 

"It's fine," Troy said. "He's not coming, anyways." 

Cynthia tutted and sighed. "I'm sorry." 

"It's... fine. Probably for the better, anyways."

"Maybe," she said. "Still. I'm sorry, baby." 

"Well, there's not much I can do about it now, so." Troy didn't mean to get short with her, but it was over before he could do anything about it.

"I suppose." 

Troy looked up to find himself arriving at his destination. "Hey, I'm actually gonna get something to eat. I'll talk to you later." 

"Alright," she said softly. "Thanks for calling, baby. Talk to you later."

"Bye, Momma," he said, and he couldn't even remember the last time he called her that in his adult life, but it felt right in the moment, so he tried not to question it. 

As he got into line, he looked at his messages and found that Abed had replied to his previous text. 

_you look great. very handsome._

_thank you. i needed that._

Troy sent back a variety of heart emojis and another poorly executed selfie of him smiling down at the camera. He typed out another message. 

_another late night?_

Then he scrolled up to reread some of their previous messages. He grinned. Troy looked up and around, searching for anyone nearby. 

"Hi!" he said to the man in front of him. 

He looked back at him, surprised. "...Hey." 

"I'm engaged," Troy said, joyfully holding up his left hand. 

The man look confused. "...That's cool, man."

"Yeah," said Troy, looking down at his own hand. "It's really cool." 

The man didn't say anything else, which was probably for the best, otherwise it wouldn't be very long before the stranger learned everything there was to know about Abed. 

Troy ordered, received, and ate his tacos without otherwise spilling his guts to any strangers, which he considered a win. 

There's that familiar dull ache setting into his joints and his muscles as he drove home. He turned up the radio to sing along in an attempt to ignore it. 

When he got home and walked through the door he called out "Hi, house!" even though he knew there was no one there to hear it, just in case their house was alive like in Monster House. He threw his bag into the closet and pulled out his foam roller and Abed's old yoga mat. 

He laid it out on the ground and every part of him wanted to curl up on it and lay there face down, but he forced himself to stretch out with the roller, and he was glad that he did. The tension left his body in time,and he stood afterwards already feeling better. 

He went to take a shower next, and he _didn't_ leave his phone out to play music even though he really wanted to, because he remembered all too well what had happened to him the last time he had started dancing to his music in a very slippery shower. 

When he got out and wrapped a towel around himself, he reached out for his phone and found another text from Abed. 

_looks like it. i definitely won't be home for dinner._

Troy sent his reply and put on pajamas. 

_cool, i'll have leftovers._

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed again. 

_we should go out to eat this weekend. you pick._

Troy smiled. 

_i'll think of something  
sounds fun!_

He moved down to their TV room and turned on Inspector Spacetime and he stretched again on the floor and worked on his splits. He was getting closer. Abed would be glad to see it once he did, Troy thought excitedly. Still, he didn't want to risk an injury, so he after few minutes, he stopped and continued to watch the show from the couch. 

After a few episodes, his mind started to wander, as it usually did, and he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through different social media. The Dean had tweeted his corrections for that semesters course "cartologue" in one very long and confusing thread. Shirley had advertised her bakery's new address. Chang had tweeted something confusing and vaguely threatening. Jeff had posted a humble thirst trap on instagram and Britta roasted him in the comments. Annie's occupation on Facebook had been updated, and also —

_Friend Request - Jack Forester_

Troy felt a rush of.... of something, he wasn't exactly sure what emotion. Jack had been a close friend to him for most of high school, and Jack had also failed to speak to him again after his injury and most damningly, in Troy's opinion, encouraged the harassment of Abed in the frozen yogurt shop. 

Before clicking anything, he visited his own account. First, his profile picture was of him and Abed inside a cardboard castle they had built not long after moving. In one hand, they each held a chinese takeout box, because Abed said it was essential for them to eat it on the floor after moving into a new house. Their other hands held each other –– it was just barely visible in the bottom half of the photo. His cover photo was one of the entire study group, but he's being held up by Abed and Annie in it, with Abed taking most of the weight and cradling his upper body. And of course, there was his relationship status, which read _Engaged to Abed Nadir_ , and was, of course, very obvious, but if wasn't sure if Jack could see that without adding him or not. 

He didn't owe Jack anything. The person Jack knew in high school was long gone. He didn't have to accept the request. 

At the same time, he wasn't hiding his relationship. It was public and on the internet, and everyone close to Troy (and then some) was already well-aware. Furthermore, he wasn't ashamed of him. He loved Abed and he knew that anyone else who got to know him would love him too. He wanted everyone to be able to see him that way. 

And... maybe it would be good if Jack saw how Troy had changed. It would make him realize once and for all (if he hadn't already) that the old Troy Barnes was truly gone. 

Troy wanted that. 

He accepted the request and shoved his phone back in his pocket before he could regret it. 

He watched a few more episodes of Inspector Spacetime before he went back to their kitchen to heat up some leftovers. Abed had left a bowl of noodles in their fridge, but Troy knew better than to touch it. Instead, he heated up leftover Lady and the Tramp spaghetti from a few days earlier and brought it out to their patio. 

It was nice out, sunny with a light breeze. Troy liked that about California weather, he could spent half of his time outside as well. Colorado wasn't too bad, but he also felt there like there were significantly less bugs in LA, which he couldn't exactly prove, but liked to believe anyways. There were tiny lizards, however, which both frightened and amazed him.

He had poured himself a Lemon Fresca into a wine glass just to feel fancy and he sipped on it happily as he finished his food. Once it was gone, he closed his eyes to feel the breeze on his face. It was slight, but present nonetheless.

Sometimes on the boat, Troy would go up on deck and stand at the front to feel the wind of his face. He'd imagine what Abed would say. Probably something about Titanic, Troy imagined. He'd be shouting that he was the king of the world. 

Sometimes on the boat, Troy would have a lot of fun, feeling that wind and looking out on the horizon, imagining what the next place would be like. 

And sometimes on the boat, Troy would need that cool air to bring him back down to reality. 

Sometimes on the boat...

Sometimes on the boat—

Troy opened his eyes again and let out a sharp breath of air. He put a hand to his face and hid in it. 

He took a few shallow breaths. He knew what he was supposed to do in these situations, but he wasn't sure if he could. 

Another shallow breath. 

He left his silverware and moved to the center of their yard, lowering himself slowly onto the grass. He started criss-cross applesauce as he had practiced, but slowly lowered himself further so that he was laying on his back. He spread his hands, fingers spreading out into the grass and holding tight. 

He closed his eyes. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to experience it, he didn't want to panic, here, alone, he didn't want to be alone on the beach, he wanted to be gone, he wanted to be safe, he wanted to be somewhere else —

His hands curled into a fist again and he felt the soft grass balled up in his hand.

He was witnessing it, not experiencing it. That was what his therapist had told him to remember. He was in his yard, at his house, his house with Abed, in LA. That's where he was. 

He was in LA. 

He took in a deep breath and held it in his lungs before exhaling, blowing it out toward the sky. He repeated the breath and exhale, once, twice, three times. His fingers curled and uncurled. 

Troy felt incredibly grateful for the solid fence blocking him from their neighbors. He didn't want Mrs. O'Donnell, a very sweet but often confused older woman, to be worried about him. 

He looked up to the clouds. He would do that while he was on the boat as well, but that thought didn't cause a panic like it may have done moments ago. It reminded him of the calmer moments, and the shapes he'd find in the sky. How he'd imagine pointing them out to Abed. Doing voices and making jokes with LeVar. 

He watched the clouds in his yard for a long time.

Then he did something he thought would make his therapist proud. He pulled out his phone to play a guided meditation. 

It wasn't easy – it never had been. It's hard to pay attention for that long, because one way or another, his mind always wandered, either to questions about otters (How do they keep from floating away when they sleep?) or to more insidious things. But it was easier than it had been in the past. He still had to work at it, and he still found it frustrating to stay motionless in the grass at times, but his heart rate and breathing had calmed by the time he was done. That felt like success to Troy. 

The sun was in a very different position when he finally got up to go inside. He made sure to bring in his dishes (which Troy counted as another win, because ordinarily he probably would've forgotten about them once they were out of his sight) and returned to the TV for a few episodes of some trashy reality show he's never heard of before. It's awful, but he was fully invested in the story by the end of the first episode, so he set up their DVR to record the rest of the season so he and Abed could watch it together.

Before he went upstairs, he made sure to water their house plant, Maude. Abed had named it after Harold and Maude, and then attempted to drive home with the plant in their trunk like Maude did in the movie. All things considered, Troy thought it was an accurate name, because Maude died at the end of the movie, and Troy was consistently worried he was killing it. Abed had brought Maude back from the brink of death on multiple occasions.

By the time he went back upstairs, brushed his teeth, and changed into his pajamas, it would've been a completely normal time for him to turn the light off and go to sleep. And yet...

He glanced at their night stand. The Hobbit sat there, waiting for them with a bookmark placed right in the middle. Troy could pick it up and read it himself, but he liked it better when Abed read to him. For one, it could almost always put him to sleep. And Troy never felt like he processed as much information from reading things himself as he did from listening to it. Also, he liked to hear Abed's voice and he wouldn't want to get any further in the story without Abed. 

His eyes continued moving across the night stand. He had a perfectly good and incredibly useful white noise machine that Abed had gotten him. He had no reason not to use it now. Still, his eyes moved forward and landed on his laptop, which he grabbed and used to watch a very long video game Let's Play on YouTube.

About halfway through, he caught glimpse of the time. 

It was fairly late. It was fairly late and Abed wasn't home yet. 

That wasn't totally out of the ordinary, in fact, it had happened several times before, and would likely happen more in the future as Abed's filming schedule got busier. So he had nothing to worry about. 

Still...

What if something had gone terribly wrong? What if he was in danger? What if he had gotten kidnapped and no one knew where he was?

Deep breath. Troy put his hands back up to his face, hiding his eyes. He felt the panic that had been rising in him slowly ebb away. Abed had texted him. They both knew he had would be home later than usual. This was just one of those thoughts. He just needed to wait it out. 

After a moment, he returned to the video. 

Sometime later, Troy heard the sound of the door opening from downstairs.

"Abed?" he called out. He sat up in bed and waited a moment. He thought he heard shuffling from downstairs, but no response. "Abed?" he tried again. 

Still no response, but now Troy heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He shook with nerves. 

"If you're not Abed, legally you have to tell me!" Troy said, right as Abed appeared in their bedroom doorway. "Oh, thank God."

"What's wrong?" Abed asked. "You look upset. Did you watch Coco again?" 

"She didn't know Hector wanted to come back to her!" Troy said, suddenly remembering the movie. His eyes stung and he wiped at them. He took a deep breath. "No, I didn't. I just called your name and when I didn't hear anything I thought you might've been a serial killer." 

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't hear you. It's just me," Abed said blankly. 

"Now I know," Troy said. He examined the blank look on Abed's face and found his eyes in distress. "Are you okay?" he asked. " _You_ seem upset."

Abed nodded curtly. "I'm okay," he said, but Troy didn't really believe him. Off of his look, Abed sighed. "Bad day." 

"Oh," Troy said. "Bad like this?" He held out his thumb to the side. "Or like this?" He pointed his thumb at the ground. 

Abed paused. "Like this," he said, pointing his thumb to the side. "Maybe somewhere in between." He went back to removing his day clothes. 

"I'm sorry." Troy leaned back against the bed and patted the space next to him. "C'mere."

Abed crawled into the bed and gingerly laid next to him, depositing his head into Troy's lap. Troy's hands were in his hair before he could even think about it.

Abed hummed a small note of contentment and sighed again, his breath soft against Troy's skin. The pads of Troy's fingers massaged against Abed's scalp and he made another small, happy noise. 

"D'you wanna talk about it?" Troy asked.

"I don't know." Abed shifted in his lap. "I'm tired." 

"Okay," Troy said. "You want the light off then?" 

Abed hummed again, which Troy assumed was meant to mean _Yes, light off._ He reaches over to click off their lamp. Abed stayed where he was. 

"Charles doesn't know any of his lines," Abed said after a moment.

"For real?" Troy said. "He's had plenty of time!" 

"I know." Abed brought a hand up to squeeze Troy's knee and to cushion his own head. "And he keeps fighting me on it." 

"That's ridiculous!" Troy said indignantly. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. People are confusing," Abed said. "But it stalls everything and makes us all have to work overtime." 

"That sucks," Troy said, attempting to calm himself. "He'll get it eventually."

"I know he will," Abed said. "It's just really frustrating right now. I know he can do it without prompters, and he just... isn't."

"Maybe he's got other stuff going on," said Troy. 

"Then he's letting it affect his work," Abed said. "Which is unprofessional."

"For sure," Troy said, still playing with Abed's hair. "But maybe if that's why he's struggling it's something you can talk to him about?" 

Abed stilled. "You have more patience than me." 

"I don't know about that."

"No, you do. I love that about you." Abed squeezed his knee. "I love you."

Troy smiled. "I love you, too."

Abed stayed in his lap a few more minutes before lifting himself up and repositioning with his head next to Troy's. 

"I'm sorry I came home late," said Abed. 

"It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry," Abed said. "I know it can make you nervous." 

Troy felt like he'd been slapped. "Don't worry about that." 

"I want to come back to you, though." Abed's voice was quiet, just a little bit raspy from a long day of work. "I miss you when we're apart. I know that's cliche and it's also sometimes used to illustrate that a couple is clingy for comedic effect, but I actually do miss you." 

Troy felt like he'd been slapped again, but in his heart this time. "I miss you, too, Abed." 

Abed nodded at him in the dark and rolled over on his side in an invitation for Troy to hold him. Troy obliged and slung an arm around his side and rubbed his face into Abed's back. Their height difference wasn't that extreme, Troy knew, but he still felt like Abed's backpack when they slept like this. He liked it, though. It made him feel useful and warm, and even more importantly, he knew it made Abed feel safe. 

"Were you waiting up for me?" Abed asked. 

"Not on purpose," Troy decided after a moment. 

He felt Abed shift again. "Okay."

"It's fine," Troy said. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad I got to see you, anyways."

Abed wiggled in his arms and grabbed his hand to pull him into a closer embrace.

"We'll read twice as long tomorrow," Abed said. "I'm just really tired right now."

"Sounds good," Troy said. 

He left a kiss on the back of Abed's shoulder. He meant it to be brief, and he definitely didn't mean to continue, traveling upward across Abed's body until he was kissing the spot just behind his ear, but that's what he ended up doing anyways. 

"Mmm," Abed groaned, his head momentarily stretching backwards toward Troy and then sinking back onto the pillow. "Sleepy." 

"I gotcha."

He pressed one more kiss to Abed's neck. Abed made another happy sound in response and Troy settled back in with his cheek against Abed's back. 

Abed fiddled with Troy's hands, specifically reaching out for his left hand, and squeezed it. He started playing with the ring on Troy's finger, spinning it around with his thumb. 

"I like being engaged to you," Abed said into the silence, "but I want to be married to you more." 

Troy's heart stuttered. "Yeah, I know what you mean." 

"Soon," Abed said. 

Troy put his face back against Abed's back. "Yeah. Soon." 

"Goodnight, Troy." 

"Goodnight, Abed." 

"Sweet dreams," Abed mumbled. 

Sweet dreams. He hoped so. Troy felt his eyelids growing heavier by the second and soon enough, he was drifting off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> the answer, by the way, to troy’s otter question, is that they hold hands while they sleep to keep from floating away. 
> 
> if you liked it, please leave comments and kudos!


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